This scraper’s datastore

Regarded as the first Prime Minister in the modern sense; the South Sea Company bubble; criticised for Great Britain's poor performance in the War of Jenkins' Ear.

Sir Robert Walpole

11 February 1742

4 April 1721

Whig

Increased tax on spirits; in poor health for much of his time as Prime Minister, the government was led de facto by John Carteret. †Died in office.

Spencer Compton,
1st Earl of Wilmington

2 July 1743

16 February 1742

Whig

Reorganisation of the Royal Navy; 1745 Jacobite Rebellion; adoption of the Gregorian Calendar; Marriage Act 1753; helped end the War of the Austrian Succession. †Died in office.

Henry Pelham

6 March 1754

27 August 1743

Whig

Led Great Britain into the Seven Years' War with France in North America.

Thomas Pelham-Holles,
1st Duke of Newcastle

16 November 1756

16 March 1754

Whig

The government was largely run by William Pitt the Elder.

William Cavendish,
4th Duke of Devonshire

25 June 1757

16 November 1756

Whig

Great Britain gained more influence abroad in the Seven Years' War; the war was largely prosecuted by Pitt the Elder as Secretary of State.

Thomas Pelham-Holles,
1st Duke of Newcastle

26 May 1762

2 July 1757

Tory

First Scottish Prime Minister. Ended the dominance of the Whigs; Treaty of Paris (1763) ending the Seven Years' War; resigned after fierce criticism of Treaty of Paris concessions.

John Stuart,
3rd Earl of Bute

8 April 1763

26 May 1762

Whig (Grenvillite)

Briefly lowered domestic tax at the expense of the colonies, though this was rapidly repealed; introduced the unenforceable Stamp Act 1765 (which is popularly cited as one of the causes of the American Revolution). His repealing of the taxes he rolled out were for all except that on tea, which was used as a reason for the Boston Tea Party.

George Grenville

13 July 1765

16 April 1763

Whig (Rockingham)

Repealed the controversial Stamp Act 1765, inspired by protests from both American colonists and British manufacturers who were affected by it and its difficulty to enforce; introduced the Declaratory Act 1766.

Charles Watson-Wentworth,
2nd Marquess of Rockingham

30 July 1766

13 July 1765

Whig (Chathamite)

The first real Imperialist; credited with the birth of the British Empire; defeated France in Canada, thereby indirectly precipitating the French Revolution.

William Pitt the Elder,
1st Earl of Chatham

14 October 1768

30 July 1766

Whig (Chathamite)

Attempted to reconcile with the American colonies.

Augustus FitzRoy,
3rd Duke of Grafton

28 January 1770

14 October 1768

Tory

Led Great Britain into the American Revolution; the Gordon Riots; attempted reform in Ireland; resigned after a vote of no confidence against the will of the King.

Frederick North,
Lord North

22 March 1782

28 January 1770

Whig (Rockingham)

Acknowledged the independence of the United States; began a process of economic reform. †Died in office.

Charles Watson-Wentworth,
2nd Marquess of Rockingham

1 July 1782

27 March 1782

Whig (Chathamite)

Planned political reform; secured peace with the United States, France and Spain.

William Petty-FitzMaurice,
2nd Earl of Shelburne

2 April 1783

4 July 1782

Whig

Titular head of the Fox–North Coalition. Attempted to reform the British East India Company, but was blocked by George III.

William Cavendish-Bentinck,
3rd Duke of Portland

19 December 1783

2 April 1783

Tory (Pittite)

Youngest Prime Minister. India Act 1784; attempted to remove rotten boroughs; personally opposed to the slave trade; reduced the national debt due to the rebellion in the North American colonies; formed the Triple Alliance; Constitutional Act of 1791; the Macartney Embassy (1792–1794), first of its kind to China; war with France starting in 1793; Cape Colony (South Africa) taken 1795; introduced the first income tax; Act of Union 1800.

William Pitt the Younger

14 March 1801

19 December 1783

Tory (Pittite)

Negotiated the Treaty of Amiens with France in 1802.

Henry Addington

10 May 1804

17 March 1801

Tory (Pittite)

Alliance with Russia, Austria and Sweden against France (Third Coalition); Battle of Trafalgar; Battle of Ulm; Battle of Austerlitz. †Died in office.

William Pitt the Younger

23 January 1806

10 May 1804

Whig

Abolition of the slave trade.

William Wyndham Grenville,
1st Lord Grenville

31 March 1807

11 February 1806

nominally Tory

He headed a Tory government; was old and ill, leaving the Cabinet to their own devices (largely headed by Spencer Perceval).

William Cavendish-Bentinck,
3rd Duke of Portland

4 October 1809

31 March 1807

Tory

Descent of George III into madness and the outset of the Regency era; his administration was notable for the lack of senior statesmen (Perceval also served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer); Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars. †The only Prime Minister to have been assassinated.

Spencer Perceval

11 May 1812

4 October 1809

Tory

Oversaw the United Kingdom's victory in the Napoleonic Wars; the Congress of Vienna; an economic recession in 1817; the Luddite movement; The War of 1812 (in Britain, the American War of 1812 to 1815); Peterloo Massacre in 1819; return to the gold standard in 1819; victory over the Marathas in the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1819; the Cato Street Conspiracy to assassinate Liverpool in 1820.

Robert Banks Jenkinson,
2nd Earl of Liverpool

9 April 1827

8 June 1812

Tory (Canningite)

†Died shortly after taking office.

George Canning

8 August 1827

10 April 1827

Tory (Canningite)

Lacked support amongst colleagues; resigned.

Frederick John Robinson,
1st Viscount Goderich

21 January 1828

31 August 1827

Tory

First Irish Prime Minister; Catholic Emancipation Bill (over which he fought a duel).

Arthur Wellesley,
1st Duke of Wellington

16 November 1830

22 January 1828

Whig

Reform Act 1832; quelled Swing Riots; restriction of employment of children; reform of the Poor Laws; abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire.

Charles Grey,
2nd Earl Grey

9 July 1834

22 November 1830

Whig

William IV's opposition forced him to resign.

William Lamb,
2nd Viscount Melbourne

14 November 1834

16 July 1834

Tory

Caretaker government while Sir Robert Peel was located and returned to London. Held many of the major posts himself.

Arthur Wellesley,
1st Duke of Wellington

10 December 1834

14 November 1834

Conservative

§Minority government. Unable to form a majority in Parliament so resigned.

§Minority government, but with the Conservatives split between Protectionists and Peelites, the Whigs held power. Education Act 1847; Don Pacifico affair; Chartist demonstrations; Australian Colonies Government Act; The Great Exhibition; improved the Poor laws; the John Russell Ministry was ended by a vote of "no confidence" on a militia bill.

Lord John Russell

21 February 1852

30 June 1846

Conservative

Government collapsed when his Chancellor's Budget was defeated.

Edward Smith-Stanley,
14th Earl of Derby

17 December 1852

23 February 1852

Peelite

Led the country into the Crimean War; resigned after defeat in the vote for an inquiry into the conduct of the war.

George Hamilton-Gordon,
4th Earl of Aberdeen

30 January 1855

19 December 1852

Whig

Responded to the Indian mutiny of 1857; introduced the India Bill.

Henry John Temple,
3rd Viscount Palmerston

19 February 1858

6 February 1855

Conservative

Government of India Act 1858, transferring ownership of the East India Company to the Crown; Jews Relief Act, allowing Jews to become MPs.

Edward Smith-Stanley,
14th Earl of Derby

11 June 1859

20 February 1858

Liberal

Between periods in office he founded the Liberal Party; term dominated by policy concerning the American Civil War; attempts to alleviate suffering caused by the Lancashire Cotton Famine. †Died in office.

Henry John Temple,
3rd Viscount Palmerston

18 October 1865

12 June 1859

Liberal

Attempted to introduce a further Reform Bill, but was opposed by his Cabinet.

John Russell,
1st Earl Russell

26 June 1866

29 October 1865

Conservative

Reform Act 1867; considered by some to be the father of the modern Conservative Party.

Edward Smith-Stanley,
14th Earl of Derby

25 February 1868

28 June 1866

Conservative

Only ethnically Jewish Prime Minister; dissolved Parliament as the Conservatives did not have a majority.

Various social reforms including the Climbing Boys Act 1875, the Public Health Act 1875 and the Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement Act 1875; purchase of shares in the Suez Canal Company; Congress of Berlin; reintroduction of Queen Victoria to public life, including bestowing the title Empress of India; Second Anglo-Afghan War; breaking up of the League of the Three Emperors; the Zulu War; start of Long Depression.

Welsh-speaking: only Prime Minister whose mother tongue was not English. End of World War I; Paris Peace Conference; attempted to extend conscription to Ireland during the First World War; Chanak Crisis.

David Lloyd George

19 October 1922

7 December 1916

Conservative

Canadian-born: only Prime Minister born outside the British Isles. Became Prime Minister following Conservative backbenchers' decision at the Carlton Club meeting to withdraw from the Lloyd George Coalition. Resigned due to ill health; died six months after leaving office.

Andrew Bonar Law

20 May 1923

23 October 1922

Conservative

Called a general election to gain a mandate for protectionist tariffs but failed to gain a majority; resigned after losing a vote of confidence.

Stanley Baldwin

16 January 1924

23 May 1923

Labour

§Hung Parliament; minority government reliant on Liberal support. First Labour Prime Minister; did not have a majority so could not introduce radical legislation; settled reparations with Germany following World War I; Zinoviev letter.

Ramsay MacDonald

4 November 1924

22 January 1924

Conservative

Treaty of Locarno; signatory of the Kellogg-Briand Pact; Pensions Act; enfranchisement of women over 21; UK General Strike of 1926.

Stanley Baldwin

5 June 1929

4 November 1924

Labour

§Hung Parliament. Appointed the first female minister, Margaret Bondfield; economic crises following the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

Ramsay MacDonald

24 August 1931

5 June 1929

National Labour

The Labour Government split on measures to resolve a budget crisis; MacDonald resigned, but was reappointed at the head of a National Government with the support of the Conservative and Liberal parties. He was subsequently expelled from the Labour Party; the National Government fought and won the election on the basis of a 'Doctor's Mandate'. Ottawa Conference supports protectionism, after which the free trade Ministers (Liberal and Viscount Snowden) resign.

Ramsay MacDonald

7 June 1935

24 August 1931

Conservative

Edward VIII abdication crisis; started rearmament but later criticised for failing to rearm more when Adolf Hitler broke Germany's Treaty of Versailles obligations.

Stanley Baldwin

28 May 1937

7 June 1935

Conservative

Attempted to maintain "peace for our time" through appeasement of Germany, settling the Munich Agreement; widely criticised following the German Invasion of Poland and consequent outbreak of World War II; resigned after failing to form a Coalition Government.

Neville Chamberlain

10 May 1940

28 May 1937

Conservative

World War II; led a Coalition Government; foundation of the United Nations; proposed what would eventually lead to the European Union; Beveridge Report. Following the ending of his all-party coalition, Churchill formed a "caretaker" government out of Conservatives, Liberal Nationals and non-party figures. However after two months it was defeated in the 1945 general election.

Winston Churchill

26 July 1945

10 May 1940

Labour

Initiated the post-war consensus; introduced nationalisation of utilities; foundation of the National Health Service; extended national insurance scheme; Independence of India and the end of the British role in Palestine; foundation of NATO; beginning of the Cold War; the Berlin Blockade and the resulting Berlin Airlift; the start of British involvement in the Korean War.

Egyptian nationalisation of the Suez Canal; which sparked the Suez Crisis. Resigned due to ill health.

Sir Anthony Eden

10 January 1957

7 April 1955

Conservative

The UK applied to join the European Economic Community for the first time, the application split the Conservatives and was vetoed by Charles de Gaulle; acceptance of Keynesianism; Rent Act 1957; Wind of Change speech; Notting Hill race riots and New Commonwealth immigration; beginning of Beeching Axe; Night of the Long Knives; Cuban missile crisis; Profumo Affair.

Harold Macmillan

19 October 1963

10 January 1957

Conservative

Was the Earl of Home when he became Prime Minister, and renounced his peerage on 23 October 1963 in order to stand for the House of Commons.

Sir Alec Douglas-Home

16 October 1964

19 October 1963

Labour

Social reforms, including legalisation of abortion, abolition of capital punishment and decriminalisation of homosexuality; Rhodesian U.D.I.; adopted, then abandoned, the National Plan for the economy; Devaluation of the pound; foundation of the Open University; disputes with trade unions over In Place of Strife and prices and incomes policy.

Harold Wilson

19 June 1970

16 October 1964

Conservative

U-turned over intervention in industry; negotiated Britain's entry to the European Community; Violence due to Northern Ireland's "Troubles" peaked; the Sunningdale Agreement agreed; Three-Day Week; called early election in backfiring attempt to confront striking miners.

Edward Heath

4 March 1974

19 June 1970

Labour

§Hung parliament. Ended dispute with miners; Social Contract with trade unions over the economy; Health and Safety at Work Act; Renegotiated terms for EC membership, then 1975 referendum validated entry; North Sea oil; Cod War.

Harold Wilson

5 April 1976

4 March 1974

Labour

International Monetary Fund loan to support the pound; the Lib-Lab pact; enacted devolution to Scotland and Wales but referendums stopped them; breakdown of relations with trade unions and Winter of Discontent.

James Callaghan

4 May 1979

5 April 1976

Conservative

First female Prime Minister of the UK. Falklands War; sold council housing to tenants (right to buy); miners' strike 1984–85; privatisation of many previously government-owned industries; decreased the power of trade unions; negotiation of the UK rebate towards the European Community budget; Brighton hotel bombing; Sino-British Joint Declaration; Anglo-Irish Agreement; Westland Affair; abolition of GLC; Section 28; the "Poll tax" and Poll Tax Riots; Lockerbie bombing; the end of the Cold War.